Ethereum’s potential to overtake bitcoin has been a hotly debated topic in the crypto space. Bitcoin maximalists believe that BTC is the original cryptocurrency and thus could never be overtaken by an altcoin. While ethereum supporters have remained strong in their resolve that the altcoin will outshine the pioneer cryptocurrency in the coming years.
The strongest argument for ethereum’s superiority has been its varied use cases. Besides its monetary policy utility, bitcoin has little to boast of in terms of real-world applications. On the flip side of this, ethereum’s use cases have continued to expand over the years. The most recent has been decentralized finance, which enables users to take the opportunity of services that would otherwise not be available to them using traditional finance providers.
Clarifying The Difference
The Stakeborg Talks hosted its first English version and for the inaugural episode, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin was a guest. Here, Buterin explained what the difference was between the blockchain he had created and the leading blockchain in the space. Buterin placed more emphasis on how both ecosystems operated and translated into value for their native currencies.
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The founder said that Ethereum was much bigger than just its native token ETH. Whereas the bitcoin blockchain derived most of its value from the price of BTC.
“The big difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin is that Bitcoin is a platform where the value of the ecosystem comes from the value of the currency, but in Ethereum the value of the currency comes from the value of the ecosystem.”
ETH price still trending below $3,500 | Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com
This echoes existing beliefs in the crypto space about ethereum being a better long-term investment due to its use cases. With so much utility, ETH holders can be sure that the blockchain will be valuable to different industries going forward. While bitcoin could fail if unable to make it to the mainstream as a means of exchange.
In addition, Buterin replied with a simple “it could” when the host asked if ETH could outpace bitcoin in the coming years. The founder believes that ETH can outperform bitcoin in both prices, as well as a store of value.
Comparing Ethereum To Bitcoin
Comparisons between ethereum and bitcoin performance show a stark difference. According to data from YCharts, BTC has grown 392.9% over the past year. ETH, however, has grown 822.7% in the same time period. Going further back shows the same outperformance from ethereum, backing up predictions that it is set to outgrow bitcoin. Average growth also shows more favorable figures for ETH. In contrast to ETH’s average growth rate of 195.5%, BTC has an average growth rate of 90.90%.
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Buterin is not alone in thinking that the blockchain will surpass that of bitcoin in the future. deVere CEO Nigel Green said that ethereum will exceed bitcoin “probably within five years.” As of now, bitcoin continues to lead the market in terms of price. But as investors look more towards utility, bitcoin falls short and ethereum provides more value for investors.
Featured image from CryptoPotato, chart from TradingView.com